08.12.2025
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Expert says ANC gathering can’t quell succession speculation

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  • ANC supporters

Leadership expert Professor Mazwe Majola says it will be hard to prevent African National Congress (ANC) members from talking about leadership succession. Majola is speaking ahead of the ANC National General Council (NGC) that gets underway on Monday.

The four-day NGC is the party’s second-highest decision-making body between national conferences and is aimed at reviewing the implementation of past conference resolutions. There have been reports of a campaign to dislodge ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa before the end of his tenure in 2027.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the gathering will not discuss leadership changes. He says President Cyril Ramaphosa will remain in office until the end of his term, with leadership matters reserved for the 2027 national conference.

Mashatile says, “The NGC will not really deal with issues of leadership at all. These are matters that will go to the national conference in 2027. So, this should not really be a preoccupation. Yes, there was an issue that the president raised, that there were some amongst NEC members who were plotting that he should be removed or resign. The president raised this issue himself in the NEC, but obviously, the NEC decided that such a move will not be supported. The president has been elected. He will stay until he finishes his term.”

Majola says tabling new policy proposals and reviewing the implementation of past conference resolutions without talking about the next leadership will be a daunting task.

“While yes, you can discourage members from talking about who’s going to take over next in 2027, but you cannot control them from talking about who did what, it was done correctly, it was not done correctly when it comes to progress and performance. But when they access the progress and the performance, they’ve got to do it comprehensively because you can’t assess the policies and the progress without talking about the actors and the implementers.”

ANC President Ramaphosa says the upcoming NGC must be a turning point, a moment to rebuild the party, renew its structures and restore public trust.

This, as the party faces serious challenges of electoral decline, which is said to be caused by the party’s ineffectiveness in dealing with corruption, careerism and factionalism.

“The NGC’s role is to review the performance of the leadership and as well as the ANC, but it is also a great platform to enhance renewal of the ANC and to speed up the process of rebuilding the ANC. So, it is an important gathering of the membership of the ANC, which I’m confident will come up with good decisions, good resolutions that will take our national democratic revolution forward.”

Another political analyst, Sandile Swana says while leadership is off the table, the NGC will focus on reviewing the party’s performance, strengthening internal structures and accelerating renewal.

“The ANC has got to account for the successes and failures of the GNU. Whether the GNU as it is, is a vehicle that will preserve and give some survival to the ANC going forward. The question of whether Ramaphosa is a suitable leader from an ANC perspective and from a voter perspective remains open because good performance has been very scarce since 2018 until now.”

The ANC’s National General Council runs from the 8th to the 11th of December, with delegates expected to debate the party’s direction, performance and renewal agenda.

ANC NGC | Electoral decline & Organisational renewal: Sandile Swana

 

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